More spring

It is raining outside. What better time to blog? I have been busier than usual of late and this blog has suffered.

But..... I am back. My schedule has cleared and now I can focus on the flowers, my girls at home, cooking, and my exercise schedule (that I need to make and FOLLOW).

And to begin, flowers.

I love flowers.





I love working in flower beds.
They remind me of my Grandma Horton.
She loved gardening of any type.

How can you not appreciate something that begins like this



and then gives you this......




The anticipation of waiting to see those bright,
bold, colorful, fragile petals,
peep out of their green shields.



Azeleas are one of my favorite. Especially since I have few flowerbeds that get full sun. These shade loving shrubs put on one of the most spendid displays of color. Right now, with the rain softly falling, and the leaves a glowing green, the azeleas are shining in all their glory. "Look at me" they say.




Mr. Clematis. The returning perennial.

Begin here.


Then smiles at you. Can't you see him smiling at you?
"Look at me I am beautiful too!"



Easter tulips




They pop with a dazzling display.



And my little garden.



Jim and I take turns tending it. Last year was his turn.

He didn't think I did a good enough job the year before. He didn't do anybetter.

You can only do so much with what you got!
Bring on the compost pile and some chicken manure
from the new chicken house.
I know this year is going to be a great success!!!

Until next time,
don't for get to appreciate God beautiful creations for us.

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Thinking

Have you ever been in one of those moods where you know something is missing or not quite right, but you just can't figure it out?

My husband has ask me several times over the last week what is bothering me. I keep telling him "I don't know". I don't know. I just know that I have a lot of thoughts running through my head. They all lead to different things. So I am not sure why I am in this limbo state.

I am sure the revelation of what I need to do or what I am thinking about will make it debut at the most inopportune time. It always does!

But in the mean time, I am determined to enjoy spring (my favorite time of year), work on my self image, and work on my attitude.

I can't go around letting people think I am all bummed out. Wake up thy smile. Show your self!!!!!!

Until next time... smiling, with happy thoughts.

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It's me again,

Hi there! You might remember me. I am the owner of this very lacking blog. Sorry I have been gone so long.

Just thought I would let you know I am still alive, here in Oklahoma.

Has anyone every discussed with you the very weird sporadic weather that happens in Oklahoma and Texas for that matter?

Let me give you a perfect example. Last week was Spring Break for our area schools. We soooo needed Spring Break. I usually only wrangle two wild girls. But this week, I had a niece and nephew thrown into the mix. Yes, I am insane, 4 kiddos. No problem, we had sunshine like it was summer time.

They played, jumped, fished, rode horses, cooked mud pies, planted in the garden, fed the cows, went for joy rides, hide and seeked it. You name it they did it. At the end of the week, I had 4 kids with sunburns that were going to sleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.

Then on Saturday morning we woke up! Yep back in Oklahoma. Gone was the 70 plus degree weather, hello winter time. Freeze warning in effect. Thank goodness I did not plant those beautiful tomato plants I wanted to buy at Walmart.

Then on Sunday morning we woke up! Guess what? Snow. Where else in the world can you go from sunshine like summertime to winter snow in two days? Only in Oklahoma!

Now doesn't that make you want to pack your suit case and head straight for my house?

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Oh my...

I can't believe it has been so long since I have been on here. I need to keep better track of time.

Has winter set in at your house? I must say this is the most precipitation I can ever remember getting. It has rained at least one day a week this ENTIRE winter.

And have I ever mentioned that I live on a farm, and I have to go through not one.....

but TWO gates to get to my house!

Oh, well! What's a little dirt going to do to a good car and a nice home.

I got sidetracked, sorry. This week we experienced something here in Southeast Oklahoma that comes every so often.


Snow

Some people around here think it is beautiful. Some people love it, some hate it. The children are amazed because this actually means that school will probably be dismissed and they can stay home and run wild.

But, if you are at the local feed store you more likely to hear it referred to as white sh--!

Hope you are enjoying your weather as much as we are.

May God bring sunshine into all our hearts!

The Sunkist Home

p.s.
Check out more pictures from around our place on the picture link above.

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Positive thoughts....

The weather here is terrible. Or at least, it feels like it to a southern cold natured Oklahoman.

So, instead of dwelling on the weather I thought I would write about something positive.

Yep, here she is. My baby!


Can she still be called this? I can remember every tiny detail of the day she was born. She was planned, and thought out, and I was prepared and ready.

Or so I thought, until she got here. She is such a good girl. I am so blessed. You would think that a mom with two healthy beautiful girls would never forget that. It is really easy to get caught up in the monotony and trials of raising two very enigmatic girls.

J is so J. She looks like sister and acts like sister, but she is still J. Isn't it wonderful how God was so intuitive to make us each unique?


Did I mention she likes to dress up. She has such a inspiring imagination. She cooks for me, she is my beautician, and is the best helper (when not picking up her own toys).

She is totally infatuated with Barbie. I have such a hard time with this. We live on a ranch, with dogs, cats, chickens, cows, horses, and all sorts of wild animals. Where did she get Barbie?

Hey I like to dress up when I go to town but not anything close to Barbie fru fru. And sister, no way, it is a knock down dragout to get a bow in her hair!

So the pink, princess, loving little sister moves mountains in this house.

Daddy has tea parties! shhh don't let him know I told. He's a softy.

I pray that I am the right road. I pray that wisdom and grace befalls her to follow the correct path, not the path most taken. I pray for a continuance of well being. Thank you for blessing me J.

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Welcome a little change..

If you haven't looked about lately.

I changed things up.

I was up late one night reading through blogs, and I thought to myself. My page is so simple. It really needs something.

From the beginning I wanted it to have three components; thoughts, recipes, and pictures. I have limited blog knowledge.

So, I waded in. I read and looked and search for free things, how to make a header, how to alter you html, adding templates, and so on. And finally, I found a free template that I thought would work.

Alla this page and pictures!

My favorite thing about this new template is the link tabs right under the Title picture.

See them. They say home recipes pictures.

Click on them and they will take you to a new page. One for recipes and one for pictures or photography ideas.

It is all still a work in progress. But I like to change things up a little. You never know what you might find the next time you click in!

What do you think? Do you like my new do?

The sunkist home

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The Dancing Tomboy

For a little girl who claims to be a non fru fru TOMBOY, she really gets dolled up for these dance performances.

She is such the drama queen. Look at those lips. She knows she is showing attitude.

Here she is with her best dance bud, Hannah.


Boys you better watch out these girls will eat you alive!

Congratulations girlie's job well done!

"Fabulous, just fabulous darling"

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Hey Chick.....

My lovely daughter has talked me into another animal project.

The conversation goes something like this:

E "Mom can I be in 4-H?"
M "When are the meetings?"

E "After school, from 3:00 to 3:30"

I thought to myself, sure I don't get off till 4:00, this will give her
something to do while she waits.

M "Sure, E, I don't care."

After the first 4-H meeting

E "Mom, mom can I show a goat? Can I show chickens? Hannah is showing a goat and Emily is going to show a goat and a pig. Mom, pleaseeeeeeee?"
M "I will have to talk to dad and see what he says."

So, several conversation later and this is what you get
20 precious, soft, cuddly, peeping, pooping, baby chicks


and smiling little girls.

Now, where are we going to put the rascals, I mean chicks, you know they double in size every 5-7 days. Did you catch that there are 20 of them? 20, yes I said 20.

Am I brave enough to ask the husband about enlarging the hen house?

Nope, not today!

The Sunkist Home

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First project of the year

Sorry it's been a really busy first of the year. It is so crazy to say this, but I think I am getting better at staying at home.

You see I am from a small city. So, when I moved to the country, and I do mean country, I had withdrawals. I thought if you didn't live close enough to go get take out and get back home with it still hot, you just live to far from town. Well, anyway!

I can't stay home very long. I am of the opinion that you can only do so much housework, cooking, and refereeing of two girls. The next step is to start a project or go to town. Well, I did both. I went to visit my sister in town. Good logic! We made a trip to Hobby Lobby and I found this.

My next project. A quilt for my elder daughter. Her one request: Zebra Stripes. Wish me luck.

Sunkist Home

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2010: A New Beginning

Happy New Year to you!

This morning I looked out the window and was greeted by the beautiful sunshine.

The pond with ice around the edge.

The sunshine following the driveway to the front window.

Shrubs hunkering down through the low temperatures.



New bulbs, beginning their path to beauty..



I love the spring and the fall. The colors are so vibrant. So rich. The winter to me is bleak, cold, and but sometimes that's can beautiful too. I wish I liked the cold weather more.

I hope that this morning is a good indication of what we have to look forward to this year. I speak it and believe that many blessing will befall you and me this year. May you be blessed by the sunshine and inspired by the views.

The Sunkist Home

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Christmas Cookies

Every year at Christmas time I try to do something to evoke memories with my daughters. In years past we have done things like, make cinnamon rolls or goodie bags to deliver to our few neighbors. This year we did not deliver any goodies, but instead made them and ate them.

It being the Christmas Holiday I was able to watch Martha Stewart at 10:00 am. Usually I am at school and not able to watch. So, girlie's be gone, Martha is on. I am watching. One of her segments was on decorating Christmas cookies. Idea! I can do this with the girls. It would be fun and maybe they will remember us working together around the table decorating cookies. And to top it all off I have the issue with the recipes and pictures to go by. Okay off to Wal-Mart for supplies.

To make our Christmas cookies you'll need.

cookie cutters
sugar cookie dough
1 1lb box powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
your choice of sprinkles, m&m's, non paraels, sanding sugar
a squeeze bottle
tooth picks
paper plates

Cut, bake and cool your cookies. I found in the Martha Stewart article that she baked her cookies long and slow. 325 degrees for 20 minutes. This made the cookies less brittle.

J made Christmas trees
E made snowmen.

I cut out candy canes and stars..


Mix icing:
Mix together powdered sugar, 1/2 of the milk, and vanilla. Mix slowly or you'll have white counters. You want the consistency to be smooth, not thick and not runny, somewhere in between. If you need to add milk do so, just a little at a time until it looks good. Pour into your squeeze bottle. I found this to be an amazing tool.

Now to decorate:
On a paper plate. Take one cookies. Using the squeeze bottle filled with icing, outline the shape of where you want a single color to be. For the candy canes I used all the same color, so I outlined the whole cookie. Then zig zag a line of icing in between the outline. Using your toothpick, smooth the icing together until it is solid. Now pour on the sprinkles. Pour off the excess and go to the next cookie. The paper plate make it so easy to pour the excess back into you sprinkle container when you are done. Now move to the next color and repeat.

The girls loved it. I found it hard to believe that my 4 year old was so much better at following directions than my 9 year old. I think it may have something to do with attitude. Hmmm... who would have ever thought that.

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Food for thought....

I am married to a mailman. To be more specific my husbands day job is to deliver mail in a small rural city. He's really a confounded country boy that chooses to work outside the home.

Do you make goodies for your mailman? Every year my husband comes home with loads and loads of goodies he finds in mailboxes or receives from the little ladies just waiting and watching for him. I sometimes wonder if delivering the mail is all he does....

He ask me with several days notices this year if I had made something for Linda our mail-carrier. Well, I know Linda has recently went on a health diet and has lost a lot of weigt so with a guilty conscience I chose not to make her any food. But next year I am going to make her something realy good. I just could not bring myself to help her get off course. I wish I had more of her discipline.

But candy....I actually make these every year. These are infact so very easy to make.

Make them for you mailmain next year.

Peanut Clusters

1 3lb container of salted dry roasted peanuts
1 package of chocolate almond bark

Open the package of almond bark. Break into pieces. Place in a glass mircowavable bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir. Repeat until consistency is smooth.

Pour peanuts into melted almond bark. Stir until peanuts are coated well.

Dollop out by spoonful onto alumnum foi. Let set until cooled and hardened. Package in container or pretty bag.

Merry after Christmas!

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Cold and frosty morning

This morning proved to be beautiful. I had to stop and record the scene.





Here are the fatten' babies having a drink after their breakfast.




What a beautiful old goat barn. I love the sunshine reflecting off the frosted roof.



Fresh. The sun hasn't touched the backside of the hill yet.



The stark black and white makes this feel so cold. But, I seem drawn to the black and whites everytime.

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A decade

Today is a my anniversary. Ten whole years. A decade.

I have spent this time with him

















the love of my life.





















Seriously, it was love at first sight

We have followed the usual course of the typical married life, trials, tribulations, success, happiness, blessings.....

Thank you Lord for the time you have allowed me to spend with this man.

Happy Anniversary, babe, I love you!

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little cowgirl

I am the mother of two beautiful little girls that are growing up way to fast. I can remember as a teenager that my elders would always say "Time flies the older you get." Well, I didn't really comprehend this until I had children.



My eldest daughter: how should I describe her? Persistant, highly motivated, never quits, never slows down, sensitive, and so very very intuitive. She does the sweetest things, like cook me scrambled eggs for breakfast. I love her to pieces.

She is also a huge and I mean huge animal lover.

She has been known to crawl in the dog box, smell of the rankest odors, and cry and cry and cry over the loss of her precious friends. Her most favorite pet today is Sanbur. He is her red roan horse, who at one time was her fathers best roping horse. She and this horse have an unbelievable relationship. He follows her around like a puppy. She rubs and kisses on him like he is a one pound pet, not a one thousand pound pet.

Her aspirations today are to be a vet, go figure. I am thankful that at this point in life I feel she has the ability to do it, the question will be can I afford to get her there?

I am so blessed. Thank you squirt for blessing me each day. I love you!

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My sisters' family

This weekend I got to put my new camera to use. My sister has been on me about doing a family photo for her. Do you know how hard it is to schedule time like this? Before I had a family I never had problems fitting everything into my schedule... Well, I checked out the weather and it said that the weather on Saturday would be over cast and 60 degrees. Perfect! I called sister and set the plan.

Then, a couple of her friends saw the pics of my girls and next thing you know a couple of other families were added to the day.

Okay, are you getting nervous. I was totally freaking out by the time I made it to the location. Do you know why? It was raining and still 40 degrees outside. But all in all the day went well. Here are some of there pics. Hope you enjoy looking at them.







The Sunkist Home

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The family photo that never was...

Click here to view these pictures larger

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